Methods and systems for a connected building emergency service

ABSTRACT

A method of supporting emergency services at a server includes: detecting an emergency condition; sending a first notification of the emergency condition to at least one mobile device; determining information for the at least one mobile device; determining a requirement to notify an emergency service provider based, at least in part, on the information for the at least one mobile device; and sending a second notification of the emergency condition to the emergency service provider in response to the requirement to notify the emergency service provider being determined.

BACKGROUND

Various buildings such as office buildings or homes may be equipped withemergency detection systems. These systems may be able to detect variousemergency situations such as a fire, carbon monoxide, flooding,unauthorized entry, medical alerts (e.g., from a medical monitoringdevice), etc., or imminent occurrence of any of these. These systems mayraise a local alarm (e.g., using a siren or loudspeaker system) and/ormay automatically notify an emergency service provider such as a firedepartment, local police, and/or a medical response service, etc.However, such systems may be susceptible to raising false or unnecessaryalarms (e.g., such as when a smoke detector confuses cigarette smokewith smoke from a fire or when a small fire starts in a building that isquickly put out by people on site), which may create cost andinconvenience to emergency services providers. In addition, there may beextra delay in obtaining a response from emergency services providers ina real emergency when an emergency detection system employs detectionthresholds that are set too high in an effort to cut down on false andunnecessary alarms.

SUMMARY

An example method of supporting emergency services at a server includes:detecting an emergency condition; sending a first notification of theemergency condition to at least one mobile device; determininginformation for the at least one mobile device; determining arequirement to notify an emergency service provider based, at least inpart, on the information for the at least one mobile device; and sendinga second notification of the emergency condition to the emergencyservice provider in response to the requirement to notify the emergencyservice provider being determined.

Implementations of such a method may include one or more of thefollowing features. The information comprises location informationcomprising: a current location of the at least one mobile device, afuture location of the at least one mobile device, a past location ofthe at least one mobile device, a speed of the at least one mobiledevice, a velocity of the at least one mobile device, a direction ofmovement of the at least one mobile device, or an expected time ofarrival of the at least one mobile device at a known location, or acombination thereof. The method further includes receiving a responsefrom a user of the at least one mobile device, wherein the informationcomprises the response. The requirement to notify the emergency serviceprovider is determined by the at least one mobile device or the user ofthe at least one mobile device, or a combination thereof, and whereinthe response comprises the requirement to notify the emergency serviceprovider. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the informationcomprises determining an absence of a response from the at least onemobile device for a threshold interval of time following sending thefirst notification. The emergency service provider is a public safetyanswering point (PSAP), and wherein the sending the second notificationof the emergency condition to the emergency service provider comprisesestablishing an emergency call with the PSAP. The method furtherincludes determining the at least one mobile device, from among aplurality of mobile devices, based at least in part on the emergencycondition. The method further includes determining the emergency serviceprovider based, at least in part, on at least one of the emergencycondition or the information for the at least one mobile device. The atleast one mobile device, the emergency service provider, or therequirement to notify the emergency service provider, or a combinationthereof, is determined based, at least in part, on at least one of atime of day or a day of week. The emergency condition is an emergencycondition for a least one of a person, an animal, a home, a building, anoffice, a factory, a venue, or a vehicle. The emergency conditioncomprises at least one of a fire, a medical condition, a burglary, or aflood.

An example of a server includes: a transceiver; a processorcommunicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to: detect anemergency condition; send, via the transceiver, a first notification ofthe emergency condition to at least one mobile device; determineinformation for the at least one mobile device; determine a requirementto notify an emergency service provider based, at least in part, on theinformation for the at least one mobile device; and send, via thetransceiver, a second notification of the emergency condition to theemergency service provider in response to the requirement to notify theemergency service provider being determined.

Implementations of such a server may include one or more of thefollowing features. The information comprises location informationcomprising: a current location of the at least one mobile device, afuture location the at least one mobile device, a past location of theat least one mobile device, a speed of the at least one mobile device, avelocity of the at least one mobile device, a direction of movement ofthe at least one mobile device, or an expected time of arrival of the atleast one mobile device at a known location, or a combination thereof.The processor is further configured to receive, via the transceiver, aresponse from a user of the at least one mobile device, wherein theinformation comprises the response. The processor is configured todetermine the requirement to notify the emergency service provider byanalyzing the response. The processor is configured to determine theinformation for the mobile device by determining that a thresholdinterval of time has passed since the processor sent the firstnotification without the processor receiving a response from the atleast one mobile device. The emergency service provider is a publicsafety answering point (PSAP), and wherein to send the secondnotification of the emergency condition to the emergency serviceprovider the processor is configured to establish, via the transceiver,an emergency call with the PSAP. The processor is configured todetermine the at least one mobile device, from among a plurality ofmobile devices, based at least in part on the emergency condition. Theprocessor is configured to determine the emergency service providerbased, at least in part, on at least one of the emergency condition orthe information for the at least one mobile device. The processor isconfigured to determine the at least one mobile device, the emergencyservice provider, or the requirement to notify the emergency serviceprovider, or a combination thereof, based, at least in part, on at leastone of a time of day or a day of week.

Another example of a server includes: means for detecting an emergencycondition; means, communicatively coupled to the means for detecting,for sending a first notification of the emergency condition to at leastone mobile device; means for determining information for the at leastone mobile device; means for determining a requirement to notify anemergency service provider based, at least in part, on the informationfor the at least one mobile device; and means, communicatively coupledto the means for determining the requirement, for sending a secondnotification of the emergency condition to the emergency serviceprovider in response to the requirement to notify the emergency serviceprovider being determined.

Implementations of such a server may include one or more of thefollowing features. The information comprises location informationcomprising: a current location of the at least one mobile device, afuture location of the at least one mobile device, a past location ofthe at least one mobile device, a speed of the at least one mobiledevice, a velocity of the at least one mobile device, a direction ofmovement of the at least one mobile device, or an expected time ofarrival of the at least one mobile device at a known location, or acombination thereof. The server further includes means for receiving aresponse from a user of the at least one mobile device, wherein theinformation comprises the response. The means for determining therequirement to notify the emergency service provider are configured toanalyze the response. The means for determining the information for themobile device comprise means for determining an absence of a responsefrom the at least one mobile device for a threshold interval of timefollowing sending the first notification. The emergency service provideris a public safety answering point (PSAP), and wherein the means forsending the second notification of the emergency condition to theemergency service provider comprise means for establishing an emergencycall with the PSAP. The server further includes means, communicativelycoupled to the means for sending the first notification, for determiningthe at least one mobile device, from among a plurality of mobiledevices, based at least in part on the emergency condition. The serverfurther includes means, communicatively coupled to the means for sendingthe second notification, for determining the emergency service providerbased, at least in part, on at least one of the emergency condition orthe information for the at least one mobile device. The server furtherincludes means for determining the at least one mobile device, theemergency service provider, or the requirement to notify the emergencyservice provider, or a combination thereof, based, at least in part, onat least one of a time of day or a day of week.

An example of a method of supporting emergency services by a userequipment (UE) includes: receiving, by the UE from a server, a firstnotification of an emergency condition; determining, by the UE,information regarding whether to notify an emergency service provider bythe server; and sending the information to the server from the UE.

Implementations of such a method may include one or more of thefollowing features. The information comprises location information forthe mobile device. The location information comprises at least one of acurrent location of the mobile device, a future location of the mobiledevice, a past location of the mobile device, a speed of the mobiledevice, a velocity of the mobile device, a direction of movement of themobile device, or an expected time of arrival of the mobile device at aknown location. The information comprises a requirement for notifyingthe emergency service provider. The method further includes: providing asecond notification of the emergency condition, based on the firstnotification of the emergency condition, to a user of the mobile device;and receiving a response from the user, wherein the information isbased, at least in part, on the response.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an example of a connected buildingemergency service architecture.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of portions of an emergency service servershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of portions of a user equipment shown in FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a signaling flow for emergency service provision.

FIG. 5 is a block flow diagram of an example of a method of notifying anemergency service provider of an emergency.

FIG. 6 is a block flow diagram of an example of a method of providing aninstruction from a user equipment to an emergency service server tonotify an emergency service provider.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques are discussed for obtaining emergency service for a connectedbuilding such as an office building or a home that has an emergencyservice server (ESS) configured and coupled for communication with oneor more emergency service providers. For example, the ESS may detect anemergency (e.g., by sensing an emergency condition and/or by receivingnotice of an emergency or emergency condition, etc.). In response todetecting the emergency, the ESS may send a notification to a mobiledevice such as a user equipment (UE). The UE may provide an alert to auser of the UE of the corresponding emergency condition. The user mayreply to the alert, e.g., by indicating that an emergency serviceprovider (ESP) should be contacted, in which case the UE sends aninstruction to this effect to the ESS. Alternatively, the user mayindicate that the ESP should not be contacted (e.g., if the userdetermines that the alert is a false alarm or that the user can addressthe emergency condition, etc.), in which case the UE may send a responseto the ESS that the ESP should not be contacted. The ESS may determinethat the ESP should be notified, e.g., in response to receiving aresponse from the UE instructing the ESS to notify the ESP, or inresponse to no response being received from the UE acceptably quickly(e.g., within a threshold amount of time). The ESS sends a notificationto the ESP that appropriate emergency service(s) is (are) desired.

The example discussed above is not exhaustive, and other examples ofobtaining emergency service for a connected building may be implemented.For example, multiple UEs may be notified by the ESS in response to theESS detecting an emergency condition, with the UEs selected based on oneor more criteria, e.g., based on a prioritized list of UEs, based on thetype of emergency, based on location information related to the UEs,etc. Location information for one or more of the UEs may be obtainedthrough the user plane of the UEs.

User Plane location based service solutions, such as Secure User PlaneLocation (SUPL) defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), may employone or more positioning protocols (e.g., LPP, LPPe, TIA-801, etc.) forpositioning. A positioning protocol is a protocol used between alocation server (e.g., a SUPL Location Platform (SLP)) and a terminal orother device (e.g., a SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET)) that may support oneor more positioning methods that are able to determine or helpdetermining the location of the terminal or device. Examples ofpositioning protocols include the Long Term Evolution (LTE) PositioningProtocol (LPP) defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 35.355, LPPExtensions (LPPe) defined in OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_0, OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_1 andOMA-TS-LPPe-V2_0 from OMA, TIA-801 defined in 3GPP2 TS C.S0022, RadioResource Control (RRC) defined in 3GPP TS 25.331 and TS 36.331 and RadioResource Location Services (LCS) Protocol (RRLP) defined in 3GPP TS44.031. These specifications are all publicly available from the ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), Third Generation PartnershipProject 2 (3GPP2) and OMA as applicable.

LPPe is defined to be used in combination with LPP and the combinedprotocol may be referred to as LPP/LPPe, LPP+LPPe or simply as LPPe(where combination with LPP is assumed implicitly). Positioningprotocols such as LPP and LPPe support a number of different positionmethods of which some of the principle ones include Assisted GlobalNavigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference ofArrival (OTDOA), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN) positioning, and positioning based in use of inertial sensors inor attached to a UE.

The techniques described herein may be used in association with devices(e.g., UEs, SETs) that have access to various wireless networks such asCode Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division MultipleAccess (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, networks supporting acombination of the aforementioned technologies, networks with wirelesswide area network (WWAN) coverage and/or wireless local area network(WLAN) coverage, a wireless personal area network (WPAN). A CDMA networkmay implement one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such asWideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), cdma2000, and so on. Cdma2000 coversTelecommunications Industry Association (TIA) IS-2000, IS-856, and IS-95standards. A TDMA network may implement one or more radio technologiessuch as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Digital AdvancedMobile Phone System (D-AMPS) or some other RAT. D-AMPS covers TIA IS-136and IS-54 standards. An OFDMA network may implement one or more radiotechnologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), orNew Radio (NR) also referred to as Fifth Generation (5G). These variousradio technologies and standards are known in the art. LTE, LTE-A,W-CDMA, GSM and NR are defined, or are being defined, in documents from3GPP. Cdma2000 is described in documents from 3GPP2. 3GPP and 3GPP2documents are publicly available. A WLAN may be an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11x network, and a WPANmay be a Bluetooth® network, an IEEE 802.15x network, or some other typeof network. The techniques may also be implemented in conjunction withany combination of WWAN, WLAN and/or WPAN. The techniques may also beused with a device communicating using a wireline IP capable networksuch as a network providing Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or cableaccess and/or may be used to support client devices communicating usinga wireline network.

The techniques may also be used in association with various locationsolutions such as user plane solutions. A user plane is a mechanism forcarrying data for higher-layer applications and employing a user-planebearer, which is typically implemented with protocols such as UserDatagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), andInternet Protocol (IP), all of which are known in the art. Messages(e.g., SUPL messages) supporting location services and positioning arecarried as part of data in a user plane solution.

Further, while the singular “emergency service” is used herein, thisterm includes the plural (i.e., “emergency services”) as more than oneemergency service may be provided. Thus, for example, an emergencyservice server may detect more than one emergency type and an emergencyservice provider may provide multiple services for one or more emergencytypes.

Items and/or techniques described herein may provide one or more of thefollowing capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned.Emergency conditions may be addressed without involving an emergencyservice provider. False alarms to emergency service providers may bereduced. Human evaluation of emergency conditions may be provided withautomated involvement of an emergency service provider provided as abackup. Other capabilities may be provided and not every implementationaccording to the disclosure must provide any, let alone all, of thecapabilities discussed. Further, it may be possible for an effect notedabove to be achieved by means other than that noted, and a noteditem/technique may not necessarily yield the noted effect.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an architecture 10 capable of detecting oneor more emergencies and providing one or more emergency services. Thearchitecture 10 includes an emergency service server (ESS) 12 disposedin a structure 14, a satellite 16, a network 18, an emergency serviceprovider (ESP) 20, a location server 22, base stations 24, 26, accesspoints (APs) 28, 30, and UEs 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. The structure 14 in theexample of FIG. 1 is a home (e.g., a single family residence or anapartment), but the architecture 10 may be used with other structuressuch as office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, factories, warehouses,stand-alone stores, etc. The structure 14 is a connected structure inthat the structure 14 is associated with the ESS 12 that is connected tothe network 18 for bi-directional communication of relevant information,e.g., emergency condition information. The UEs 31-35 may also be calledmobile stations (MSs), terminals, stations, devices, mobile devices,wireless devices, subscriber units, targets, target SETs, or by someother terminology. The UEs 31-35 may each be a Secure User Plane (SUPL)enabled terminal (SET). A SET is a device capable of communicating withSUPL capable entities (e.g., an SLP) that support positioning andlocation services for SETs. The UEs 31-35 shown are examples, and otherquantities and types of UEs may be included in the architecture 10.Here, the UE 31 is a laptop computer and the UEs 32-35 are smart phones,but the architecture 10 may include one or more personal digitalassistants (PDAs), wireless modems, personal computers, telemetrydevices, tracking devices, tablets, machine-to-machine (M2M) devices,embedded modems, and so on. For example, the UE 32 may be a UE in aUniversal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), an MS in GSM orcdma2000, a personal computer in an IP-based network, and so on.

The satellite 16 in the architecture 10 is part of a SatellitePositioning System (SPS) such as a Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS). The satellite 16 is configured to provide signals for positiondetermination (e.g., of the UEs 31-35). While only one satellite 16 isshown for simplicity of the figure, more than one satellite 16 will beprovided as part of the SPS, and the UEs 31-35 are configured to receiveand process signals from multiple satellites. The network 18 isconfigured to communicate bi-directionally with other components of thearchitecture 10 and may include more than one network and/or networktype. For example, the network 18 may include one or more Radio AccessNetworks (RANs), which may each be a wireless communication networkemploying one or more wireless carriers (e.g., LTE and/or NR). Thenetwork 18 may include or be connected to one or more wired networkssuch as one or more terrestrial communication networks (e.g., theInternet). While only a single network 18 is shown in FIG. 1, thenetwork 18 may comprise multiple wireless and/or wireline networks thatare not shown individually in FIG. 1. Although shown separately from thenetwork 18, the base stations 24, 26 and/or the access points 28, 30 maybe part of the network 18. The discussion below refers to the UE 32 asan example, but the discussion applies to other UEs including the UEs31, 33-35.

The ESS 12 in the architecture 10 may be a server, a Personal Computer,part of a home or office security system or in general a computer systemwith an ability to communicate with the network 18, the UEs 31-35 andthe ESP 20 by wireless and/or wireline means. The ESS 12 may include orbe connected to one or more sensor devices that enable the ESS 12 torecognize or infer an emergency related condition (e.g., a fire, flood,medical condition for a user, unauthorized incursion into structure 14etc.). More details of the ESS 12 are provided herein.

The ESP 20 may be a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) which respondsto emergency calls from users (e.g., “911” calls in North America or“112” calls in Europe) and dispatches a public safety response (e.g.,police, fire or ambulance). The ESP 20 may also be a private safetyresponder such as a home and/or office security service or a medicalservice provider. The ESP 20 may further comprise more than one publicand/or private service provider. The ESP 20 may be connected to thenetwork 18 by wireless and/or wireline means and may be configured tocommunicate with the ESS 12 and the UEs 31-35.

As discussed herein, the architecture 10 is configured to detect one ormore emergency conditions, notify the UEs 31-35, have one or more of theUEs 31-35 respond to the notification, and respond to the UE(s)response(s) or lack thereof by notifying the ESP 20, if appropriate, toobtain appropriate emergency service.

The UEs 31-35 may be associated with the structure 14. For example, theUEs 31-35 may belong to users that live in the structure 14 with thestructure 14 being a home as shown. Alternatively, one or more of theUEs 31-35 may be associated with one or more corresponding users thatare otherwise associated with the structure 14, e.g., that are employedby a business having a place of business in the structure 14. Theassociation of the UEs 31-35 with the structure 14 may be programmedinto the software 44 (described later) for the ESS 12, and may bere-programmed via the user interface 46 (described later) for the ESS12, for example, to accommodate changes in persons living or working atthe structure 14.

The UE 32 may include a SUPL agent which may be an application (App) orother client entity within the UE 32 that may, from time to time,request the location of the UE 32 from the UE 32—e.g., from apositioning engine in the UE 32 (not shown in FIG. 1) that supportsSUPL. The UE 32 may be a SET whose position is being sought by a SUPLagent that may be internal to the UE 32 or external to the UE 32. The UE32 may perform functions such as privacy, security, positioningmeasurement and position calculation for location services.

The UE 32 is configured to communicate with the network 18 for variousservices such as originating and/or receiving voice calls, packet datasessions, messaging, and so on. The UE 32 may also communicate with SUPLcapable entities via the network 18. The network 18 may include awireless network such as a cdma2000 network, a UMTS network, an LTEnetwork, a GSM network, an NR (or 5G) network, some other radio accessnetwork (RAN), a WLAN, and so on. The network 18 may also oralternatively include a wireline network such as an IP-based network,the Internet, a phone network, a cable network, and so on. The UE 32 mayalso receive signals from one or more navigation satellites, e.g., thesatellite 16, that form all or part of an SPS. The SPS may include or bepart of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) such as the GlobalPositioning System (GPS), the European Galileo system, the RussianGLONASS system, the Chinese Beidou system or some other satellitepositioning system. For example, the techniques provided herein may beapplied to or otherwise enabled for use in various regional systems,such as, e.g., Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IndianRegional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) over India, and/orvarious augmentation systems (e.g., a Satellite Based AugmentationSystem (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for usewith one or more global and/or regional navigation satellite systems. Byway of example but not limitation, an SBAS may include an augmentationsystem(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections,etc., such as, e.g., Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), EuropeanGeostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multi-functionalSatellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigationor GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and/or the like.Thus, as used herein, an SPS may include any combination of one or moreglobal and/or regional navigation satellite systems and/or augmentationsystems, and SPS signals may include SPS signals, SPS-like signals,and/or other signals associated with such SPS.

The UE 32 may measure signals from satellites and/or from base stations,wireless access points (APs), femtocells, etc. in the network 18 and mayobtain pseudo-range measurements for the satellites (e.g., for GNSS orA-GNSS positioning) and/or network measurements (e.g., for OTDOA, ECIDand/or WLAN positioning) from the base stations, APs and femtocells. Thesatellite pseudo-range and/or network measurements may be used to derivea position estimate for the UE 32 which may be computed by the UE 32 orby the location server 22 if the UE 32 sends the measurements to thelocation server 22.

The location server 22 may be an SLP and may be responsible for SUPLservice management and position determination. SUPL service managementmay include managing locations of SETs (e.g., the UEs 31-35) andstoring, extracting, and modifying location information of target SETs.The location server 22 may include a SUPL Location Center (SLC) and aSUPL Positioning Center (SPC). The SLC performs various functions forlocation services, coordinates the operation of SUPL, and interacts withSETs over a user plane bearer. The SLC may perform functions forprivacy, initiation, security, roaming support, charging/billing,service management, position calculation, and so on. The SPC supportspositioning for SETs, is responsible for messages and procedures usedfor position calculation, and supports delivery of assistance data tothe SETs to assist SETs in acquiring and measuring signals (e.g., fromSPS satellites 20 and/or from base stations and APs in the network 18)and/or to compute a location. The SPC may perform functions forassistance data delivery, retrieval of measurements and/or locationestimates from SETs, position calculation, and so on. An SPC may haveaccess to GPS or other GNSS receivers (e.g., located in a referencenetwork, perhaps a global one) and may receive signals for SPSsatellites and/or receive data derived from SPS signals from a referencenetwork so that it can provide assistance data to SETs. In someimplementations, SLC and SPC may be physically and/or logicallycombined.

FIG. 2 shows an example implementation of the UE 32 and may also be anexample implementation of the UEs 31 and 33-35. In FIG. 2, the UE 32comprises a computer system including a processor 70, memory 72including software (SW) 74, an optional user interface 76, a transceiver78, antenna(s) 82, and an SPS unit 80. The transceiver 78 is configuredto send and receive wireless signals to and from one or more elements inthe network 18 via the antenna(s) 82. The processor 70 preferablyincludes an intelligent hardware device, e.g., a central processing unit(CPU) such as those made or designed by QUALCOMM®, ARM®, Intel®Corporation, or AMD®, a microcontroller, and/or an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 70 may comprise multipleseparate physical entities that can be distributed in the UE 32. Thememory 72 includes random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory(ROM). The memory 72 is a non-transitory processor-readable storagemedium that stores the software 74 which is processor-readable,processor-executable software code containing processor-readableinstructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor70 to perform various functions described herein (although thedescription may refer only to the processor 70 performing thefunctions). Alternatively, the software 74 may not be directlyexecutable by the processor 70 but configured to cause the processor 70,e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. Theprocessor 70 is communicatively coupled to the memory 72, the userinterface 76, the transceiver 78, and the SPS unit 80 and is configuredto perform a variety of functions, e.g., in accordance with the software74. For example, the processor 70 and the memory 72 may be configured,as discussed further herein, to receive and process emergencynotifications from the ESS, input from a user via the user interface 76,and position signals (e.g., SPS signals and/or indications of positions)from the SPS unit 80.

The SPS unit 80 is configured to acquire and measure signals receivedfrom SPS satellites, e.g., the satellite 16. The SPS unit 80 may processSPS signals received via one or more of the antenna(s) 82 to measurecode phases or pseudo-ranges and possibly determine the location of theUE 32 from these measurements. Also or alternatively, the SPS unit 80may provide signal information to the processor 70, e.g., for positiondetermination by the processor 70 and/or provision to the locationserver 22. The SPS unit 80 may be implemented by the processor 70 andthe memory 72, or as a separate entity.

The processor 70 may be configured to determine a location of the UE 32.For example, the processor 70 may analyze signals received from accesspoints and/or base stations in the network 18 (e.g., to determinereceived signal strength indications (RSSIs) for ECID or WLANpositioning and/or reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurementsfor OTDOA) and known locations of the access points and/or the basestations (e.g., provided by the location server 22) to determine thelocation of the UE 32. The processor 70 may use the signals from theaccess points, the base stations, and/or the satellites to performtrilateration (e.g., which may use three or more measurements) todetermine the location of the UE 32. Further, the processor 70 maycombine location determination techniques, e.g., averaging or weightedaveraging location data from multiple location determination techniques(e.g., using A-GNSS, OTDOA, ECID, etc.), to determine the location ofthe UE 32.

The network entities in FIG. 1 may also be referred to by other names inother networks and other location architectures. For example, in a3GPP-based network (e.g., a UMTS network or LTE network), the locationserver 22 may be called or may correspond to a Gateway Mobile LocationCenter (GMLC), a Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC), a standaloneSMLC (SAS), an Enhanced SMLC (E-SMLC), a Location Management Function(LMF), a positioning entity, a positioning server, a positioning center,a Position Determining Entity (PDE), a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC),and so on. Also in a 3GPP-based network, a SET may be called a UE, and aSUPL agent may be called an LCS client. The functions and signalingperformed by the 3GPP entities may be similar to or the same as thoseperformed by the corresponding SUPL entities, thereby enablingcomparable services and capabilities. In some cases, a location servermay be called a location center, a SUPL Location Center (SLC), an LCSserver, a Mobile Positioning Center (MPC), and so on.

SUPL may support some or all of the following position methods (amongothers): SET assisted Assisted-GPS (A-GPS); SET assisted Assisted-GNSS(A-GNSS); SET based A-GPS; SET based A-GNSS; Autonomous GPS orautonomous GNSS; Advanced forward link trilateration (A-FLT); SETassisted and/or SET based Enhanced observed time difference (E-OTD); SETassisted and/or SET based Observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA)for UMTS and/or for LTE; SET assisted and/or SET based Enhancedcell/sector (ECID) and cell-ID; SET assisted and/or SET based WiFipositioning (also referred to as WLAN positioning), SET assisted and/orSET based Short Range Node (SRN) positioning and certain SET assistedand/or SET based Hybrid combinations of these.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the ESS 12 and comprises a computer systemincluding a processor 40, memory 42 including software (SW) 44, a userinterface 46, a transceiver 48, and one or more sensor(s) 50. The userinterface 46 is optional, as indicated by the dashed lines. Theprocessor 40 is coupled to the memory 42, the user interface 46, thetransceiver 48, and the sensor(s) 50 for bi-directional communication.The transceiver 48 may include or be connected to one or more antennas(not shown in FIG. 3) and may be configured to communicatebi-directionally via wireless means with access points and/or basestations in the network 18, and/or one or more other entities. Thetransceiver 48 may also be configured to communicate bi-directionallyvia wireline means with network 18, and/or one or more otherentities—e.g., using a packet cable connection or Digital SubscriberLine (DSL) and the Internet. The transceiver 48 optionally includes aBLUETOOTH® unit 52, a Wi-Fi unit 54, and/or an LTE unit 56 eachconfigured (e.g., including one or more appropriate antennas) forwireless bi-directional communication in accordance with a respectiveprotocol. The processor 40 preferably includes an intelligent hardwaredevice, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) such as those made ordesigned by QUALCOMM®, ARM®, Intel® Corporation, or AMD®, amicrocontroller, and/or an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), etc. The processor 40 may comprise multiple separate physicalentities that can be distributed in the ESS 12. The memory 42 includesrandom access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM). The memory 42is a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium that stores thesoftware 44 which is processor-readable, processor-executable softwarecode containing processor-readable instructions that are configured to,when executed, cause the processor 40 to perform various functionsdescribed herein (although the description may refer only to theprocessor 40 performing the functions). Alternatively, the software 44may not be directly executable by the processor 40 but configured tocause the processor 30, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform thefunctions. The processor 40 is communicatively coupled to the memory 42and configured to perform a variety of functions, e.g., in accordancewith the software 44. The sensors 50 may be part of the ESS 12 (e.g.,within or attached to a physical chassis or enclosure for the ESS 12) ormay be remote from the ESS 12 and connected to the ESS 12 by wirelessand/or wireline means (e.g., via the transceiver 48).

The sensors 50 may include a sensor 62 to detect the presence of water(e.g., associated with a flood condition), a sensor 64 to detect thepresence of fire or smoke (e.g., associated with a fire condition) and asensor 66 to detect the presence of carbon monoxide (CO) (e.g.,associated with natural gas leakage). The sensors 50 may also includemedical sensors (not shown in FIG. 3) such as sensors for bodytemperature, blood pressure, respiration rate, blood sugar level, etc.,which may be worn by or implanted in a user and may communicatewirelessly (e.g., using Bluetooth) with the transceiver 48 and possiblyvia a modem or other wireless device (e.g., a UE) carried or worn by theuser.

As discussed herein, the ESS 12 is configured to detect one or moreemergency conditions, notify one or more of the UEs 31-35, and notifythe ESP 20 as appropriate to obtain emergency service. An emergencycondition may be associated with any of a variety of entities, e.g.,being an emergency condition for a person, an animal (such as a pet), abuilding (such as a home, an office, a factory, a venue), or a vehicle,etc. The emergency condition may pertain to any of a variety of types ofemergencies such as a fire, a medical condition (e.g., of a person or apet), a burglary (or other unauthorized entry or attempted entry intothe structure 14), a flood, excess carbon monoxide (or other element orchemical), insufficient oxygen, etc.

FIG. 4 shows an example signaling flow 110 among the ESS 12, the UE 32,the UE 33, the network 18, the location server 22, and the ESP 20 fordetecting an emergency condition and providing emergency serviceaccording to the techniques described herein. The ESS 12, the UE 32, theUE 33 (and one or more other UEs), the network 18, the location server22, and the ESP 20 are configured to perform the communications andactions discussed below.

At operation 112 in the signaling flow 110, the ESS 12 detects anemergency condition associated with the structure 14 or associated withone or more users associated with the structure 14. The sensor(s) 50and/or the processor 40 of the ESS 12 may be configured to detect theemergency condition.

The processor 40 may also or alternatively be configured to detect anemergency condition (or emergency conditions). For example the processor40 may receive one or more signals from one or more of the sensor(s) 50indicating that one or more emergency conditions exist. Also oralternatively, the processor 40 may receive one or more raw measurementsignals from one or more of the sensor(s) 50 and analyze the rawmeasurement signal(s) to determine whether one or more emergencyconditions exist. Also or alternatively, the processor 40 may receiveone or more other raw measurement signals and/or one or more otherindications that one or more emergency conditions exist. For example,the processor 40 may receive input through the user interface 46 of auser informing the ESS 12 of an emergency. The input may, for example,be a signal indicating the triggering of a manual fire alarm, textentered through a keyboard and/or a touch-sensitive screen of the userinterface 46, audio received by a speaker of the user interface 46, oneor more video images captured by a camera of the user interface 46,and/or a signal indicative of the emergency condition as determined bythe user interface 46 itself (e.g., by processing text, audio, video, orother input). As another example, the processor 40 may receive, via thetransceiver 48, an indication from the UE 32 that an emergency conditionexists (and/or may receive one or more other signals from the UE 32and/or from one or more other UEs). The indication from the UE 32 may bein response to the UE 32 detecting a condition via a sensor of the UE 32and/or may be in response to input by a user through the user interface76. As an example, the UE 32 may provide an indication of a medicalemergency for a user of the UE 32 as determined by a sensor or sensorsworn by or implanted in the user that are in communication with the UE32.

At operation 113 in the signaling flow 110, the ESS 12 determines one ormore UEs to which a notification is to be sent. The processor 40 may beconfigured to determine which of the UEs 31-35 should be sent thenotification, e.g., from a contact list. For example, the processor 40may be configured to analyze the contact list and select which of theUEs 31-35 to send the notification based on a type of the emergency. Thecontact list may include one or more indications for each of the UEs31-35 indicating for which types of emergencies the respective UE shouldreceive a notification. The processor 40 may be configured to select theUE(s) based on one or more criteria such as location(s) of the UE(s),emergency type, time of day, day of week, association of the UE(s) withthe structure 14, etc. For example, the processor 40 may be configuredto send the notification to the UEs 31-35 that are associated with thestructure 14, and this association may change over time (e.g., dependingon a location of a UE, programming of the software 44 via the userinterface 46, etc.). Also or alternatively, the processor 40 may beconfigured to use location information for the UEs 31-35, e.g., a lastknown location for each of the UEs 31-35, to select one or more (ornone) of the UEs 31-35 for receiving a notification of the detectedemergency condition. For example, if the emergency type requires a userto physically come to the structure 14 within an hour, but a particularUE is hundreds of miles away, then the processor 40 may determine not toselect that UE for receiving a notification of the emergency. As anotherexample, the processor 40 may determine not to send a notification toany UE whose last known location is greater than a threshold distancefrom the structure 14, regardless of the emergency type. As yet anotherexample, the processor 40 may determine which of the UEs 31-35 to sendnotifications to based on the time of day and/or the day of the week andavailability schedules (e.g., normal work hours and work days for usersof the UEs for a structure 14 that is an office or factory).

At operation 114 in the signaling flow 110, the ESS 12 sends one or morenotifications to the selected UEs from the UEs 31-35, here to the UE 32.The processor 40 may be configured to send one or more notifications,via the transceiver 48, to each of the UEs 31-35 determined at theoperation 113, of the one or more emergency conditions and the UEs 31-35are configured to receive and respond to the notification(s) from theESS 12. The processor 40 may be configured to send notifications to oneor more of the UEs 31-35 in a prioritized order, with the order beingbased, for example, on the type of emergency, the severity of theemergency, and/or the last-known locations of the UEs 31-35, etc. In theexample of FIG. 4, the ESS 12 determined at the operation 113 to sendnotifications to the UEs 32-33, and thus at the operation 114 theprocessor 40 sends a notification to the UE 32, but the discussion isapplicable to other UEs. The processor 40 can produce and send, via thetransceiver 48, a notification indicating the emergency condition to theUE 32. The particular notification may be the same for the UE 32 and forone or more other UEs, or may be different for one or more other UEsthat are notified of the emergency, and/or may be sent to one or moreother UEs using the same or a different communication protocol (e.g.,BLUETOOTH®, Wi-Fi, LTE, etc.) as used for the notification in theoperation 114. While FIG. 4 shows the notification being sent directlyfrom the ESS 12 to the UE 32 at operation 114, the notification may besent via the network 18 in some aspects. The notification may indicatethe emergency condition generally, and/or may provide one or moredetails of the emergency to the UE 32 such as the location of theemergency (e.g., the location of the structure 14 for an emergencycondition related to the structure 14 or the location of a UE for anemergency condition related to a user of the UE). The notification mayalso or instead provide the time the emergency condition was detected(e.g., which may be useful in the event that the user of the UE 32cannot be notified immediately by the UE 32). For example, which detailsare provided may depend on the UE or a user associated with the UE(e.g., a medical condition of a parent may not be provided to a mobilephone associated with a pre-teen child). The notification sent by theprocessor 40 may include an explicit and/or implicit request forlocation-related information for the UE 32. The request may be implicit,for example, if every emergency condition notification prompts the UE 32to obtain location-related information, or if the UE 32 determineswhether criteria in addition to receiving the notification are met forobtaining the location-related information.

At operation 115 in the signaling flow 110, the UE 32 determines aresponse, or lack thereof, to the notification sent by the ESS 12 atoperation 114. For example, processor 70 of the UE 32 may send a noticeto the user of the UE 32 via the user interface 76 corresponding to thereceived notification and may indicate the emergency type and/or one ormore other details regarding the emergency, such as the location of theemergency condition (e.g., the structure 14) and the time the emergencycondition was detected. The notice to the user may provide the user withoptions for responding, e.g., contact police, contact a hospital,contact another UE, contact a general emergency service (e.g., bycalling 911 in the United States), etc. The processor 70 may provideinformation to the user to assist the user in responding to thenotification. For example, the processor 70 may interact with the SPSunit 80 to determine a current location of the UE 32 and provide thislocation on a map to the user. The processor 70 may receive input viathe user interface 76 from the user, and behave accordingly. Forexample, the processor 70 may produce (e.g., create, or access from thememory 72) a responsive message such as an instruction for the ESS 12 tocontact the ESP 20 (or any ESP generally), or may determine that noresponse is to be sent to the ESS 12 (e.g., if explicitly instructed bythe user or by passage of a threshold amount of time).

At operation 116 in the signaling flow 110, the UE 32 optionally sends aresponse to the ESS 12 (e.g., directly or via the network 18). Theprocessor 70 may be configured to send, via the transceiver 78, acommunication responsive to the notification received in the operation114 to the ESS 12. The UE 32 may send an instruction and/or otherinformation (provided by the user or otherwise obtained by the processor70) to the ESS 12. For example, the user may indicate that the usercannot go to the location of the emergency condition (e.g., thestructure 14), or may indicate that the user can go and may also providethe user's estimate of a time of arrival of the user at the location ofthe emergency condition, etc. Alternatively, the user may provide aninstruction to the ESS 12 in the response at operation 116 that the ESS12 either shall or shall not contact the ESP 20 (e.g., as at operation126 described later). Further, the processor 70 may determine a responseto the notification from the operation 114. For example, the processor70 may determine a response without querying the user. For example,based on a time of day and a day of week and the emergency type, theprocessor 70 may determine that the user is unavailable to address theemergency and may produce and send an appropriate (e.g., pre-configured)response to the ESS 12. Further, while labeled a “response,” the UE 32may proactively notify the ESS 12 of one or more conditions affectingthe ability of the user of the UE 32 to respond to an emergency, orpossibly even to receive the notification at the operation 114. Forexample, the processor 70 could send a notice to the ESS 12 (e.g., priorto operation 112) that the connectivity status of the UE 32 will preventreceipt of emergency notifications (e.g., the UE 32 is switching toairplane mode or do-not-disturb mode), and for how long, if thatinformation is known (e.g., the user has a scheduled meeting for twohours). Alternatively, the UE 32 may not send a response to the ESS 12at operation 116, e.g., if the user of the UE 32 in response to thenotice provided via the user interface 76 elected not to have the UE 32send a response to the ESS 12, or if the user failed to elect to havethe UE 32 send a response to the ESS 12, or if the UE 32 was powered offwhen the notification in the operation 114 was sent, etc.

At operation 117 in the signaling flow 110, the ESS 12 sends anotification to the UE 33 (e.g., directly or via the network 18). Theoperation 117 may be similar to the operation 114 for the UE 32,although the content of the notification in the operation 117 may differfrom the content of the notification in the operation 114.

At operation 118 in the signaling flow 110, the UE 33 determines aresponse to the notification received in the operation 117. In thisexample, the UE 33 responds to the notification by contacting thelocation server 22 to request location information for the UE 33 in anoperation 119. Examples of the location information include currentlocation, future location, past location, speed, velocity (i.e., speedand direction of travel), direction of movement, or an expected time ofarrival at a known location, or a combination thereof, for the UE 33. Todetermine the current location, the UE 33 may use an SPS unit of the UE33. Here, the location information is determined by the location server22 and provided to the UE 33 in an operation 120. For example, thelocation server 22 may comprise or include a SUPL SLP and may use SUPLto determine the location information. The operation 118 of determiningthe response includes sending the request at operation 119 and receivingthe location information from the location server 22 at operation 120.Some or all of the location information, however, may be calculated bythe processor 40 of the ESS 12, and/or by the UE 33, and/or by one ormore other devices, in which case operations 119 and 120 may not occur.For example, the UE 33 may obtain location measurements (e.g.,measurements of the satellite 16 and/or other satellites and/ormeasurements of base stations and/or APs in the network 18) anddetermine a location, velocity, direction of travel etc. for the UE 33based on the location measurements and without querying location server22 at operation 119. As another example, a third-party service such as amapping service may be accessed by the UE 33 and/or by the locationserver 22 to determine the expected time of arrival for the UE 33 at thelocation of the emergency condition (e.g., the structure 14) based onthe present location of the UE 33, the present direction of travel ofthe UE 33, a mode of transportation of the UE 33 (e.g., whether the UE33 is in a motor vehicle, and if so, whether that vehicle is a privateconveyance, such as a personal car, or a public conveyance such as abus), and/or expected travel times of routes between the presentlocation of the UE 33 and the location of the emergency condition. Theexpected travel times of the routes may depend on, for example, trafficconditions on the routes, public transportation schedules, etc.

At operation 121 in the signaling flow 110, the UE 33 sends a responseto the ESS 12. The operation 121 may be similar to the operation 116 forthe UE 32, although the content of the response in the operation 121 maydiffer from the content of the response in the operation 116. Forexample, the response for operation 121 may include location informationfor the UE 33 either provided by the location server 22 at operation 120or determined by the UE 33 as previously described. The response at theoperation 121 may not be sent, e.g., if location information for the UE33 is not obtained (e.g., if the UE 33 was powered off when thenotification in the operation 117 was sent), or is not obtained by theUE 33 within a threshold amount of time, or if a user of the UE 33instructs the UE 33 not to respond to the notification received in theoperation 117, etc.

At operations 122-124 in the signaling flow 110, the ESS 12 sends alocation request to the location server 22, and the location server 22determines location information and returns the location information tothe ESS 12. At the operation 122, the ESS 12 may send a request forlocation information to the location server 22 either directly or viathe network 18 and without passing through any of the UEs 31-35, Therequest for location information in the operation 122 may requestlocation information for one or more of the UEs 32-33. The locationinformation requested for different UEs may be different, e.g., thecurrent or last-known location for one UE, and the expected time ofarrival of another UE. The requested location information, if determinedby the location server 22, is sent by the location server 22 to the ESS12 in the operation 124. Operations 122-124 are optional and may notoccur in some aspects.

At operation 125 in the signaling flow 110, the ESS 12 determines an ESPnotification requirement. The ESS 12 may use information obtainedregarding the UEs 32-33 to determine a requirement to notify the ESP 20(or some other ESP), determines which ESP(s) to notify, and determinesthe content of the notification for the ESP 20.

The processor 40 may determine the requirement to notify an ESP based onone or more criteria. The processor 40 may determine the requirement tonotify an ESP by analyzing content of the response(s) from theoperation(s) 116, 121, 124, or the lack of such response(s), and mayfurther consider the type of emergency condition including the severityand duration of the emergency condition, the time of day and/or the dayof the week. For example, the processor 40 may be configured todetermine to notify the ESP 20 if no response is received (e.g., withina threshold interval of time following sending of a notification to theUE(s)) from any UE to which an emergency notification was sent. Asanother example, the requirement to notify the ESP 20 may have beendetermined by the UE 32 or the UE 33, and/or by the user of the UE 32and/or the user of the UE 33, as indicated by instruction(s) in theresponse 116 and/or the response 121, and at the operation 125 theprocessor 40 analyzes and acts on the instruction(s) to notify the ESP20. For example, at the operation 115, the user of the UE 32 may haveentered an implicit instruction for ESS 12 to notify the ESP 20 byindicating that the user could not reach the location of the emergencycondition (e.g., the structure 14), or may have entered an explicitinstruction for ESS 12 to contact the ESP 20 based either on thejudgment of the user alone, or based at least partially on informationprovided or determined by the UE 32 such as a present location of the UE32 (e.g., determined using the SPS unit 80). As another example, therequirement for the ESS 12 to notify the ESP 20 may be determined by acombination of the UE 32 (and/or the UE 33) and/or the user of the UE 32(and/or the user of the UE 33), and/or the ESS 12, e.g., usinginformation available to, or provided by, the respective entity and/orinformation processing by any of these entities. As yet another example,the processor 40 may determine to notify the ESP 20 in response to anemergency arising at a time of day and/or a day of the week when no UEis typically near the structure (e.g., for flooding), or at a time ofday and day of week when the emergency likely poses risk of imminentharm (e.g., at 3:00 AM with a high carbon monoxide emergency).

The processor 40 may be configured to determine which ESP(s) to notifybased on one or more criteria. For example, the processor 40 may beconfigured to select the ESP 20 from multiple possible ESPs based on thetype of emergency condition and/or information determined for the UE(s)32-33 such as the location information, and/or a time of day, and/or aday of the week. As an example, the processor 40 may be configured toselect the ESP nearest to the location of the emergency condition (e.g.,the structure 14) that has capabilities for servicing the type ofemergency. As another example, the processor 40 may be configured toselect an ESP based on a determined imminent arrival of a user for theUE 32 or the UE 33 at the location of the emergency condition (e.g., thestructure 14), but where the user requires certain support from aparticular ESP, such as specific equipment or a specific emergencyrelated capability, in order to resolve the emergency condition, Asanother example, the processor 40 may select an ESP that is further fromthe location of the emergency condition (e.g., the structure 14) thananother, closer, ESP, because the closer ESP is closed at the presenttime of day or on the present day of the week.

At operations 126-128 in the signaling flow 110, an emergency relatedsession is requested by the ESS 12 and established with the ESP 20 viathe network 18. For example, the ESP 20 may be a PSAP, and the processor40 may be configured to establish, via the transceiver 48, an emergencycall with the PSAP. As another example, the ESP 20 may be a privateemergency provider and the ESS 12 may request and establish a datasession, voice session and/or a session for other media (e.g., text orvideo) with the ESP 20 via the network 18, where the session may not beseen as an emergency session by the network 18. At the operation 126,having chosen the ESP 20, the ESS 12 sends a request for an emergencyrelated session with the ESP 20 to the network 18 for relay/forwardingto the ESP 20 at operation 127. At operation 128, the ESP 20 responds toreceiving the request for the emergency related session by sending anemergency related session response message to the ESS 12 (via thenetwork 18 as appropriate) to establish an emergency related servicesession between the ESS 12 and the ESP 20. The ESS 12 may, for example,be configured to relay an emergency related request message from a userof the UE 32 and/or to provide the ESP 20 with a prepared emergencyrequest, e.g., based on the emergency type and/or emergency location.

With further reference to FIGS. 1-4, FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of amethod 150 of supporting emergency services at a server includes thestages shown. The method 150 is, however, an example only and notlimiting. The method 150 may be altered, e.g., by having stages added,removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and/or havingsingle stages split into multiple stages. In an aspect, the server is anESS (e.g., the ESS 12).

At stage 152, the method 150 includes detecting an emergency condition.For example, the server (e.g., the ESS 12) may detect an emergencycondition as discussed with respect to the operation 112 of FIG. 4,e.g., by one or more of the sensor(s) 50 detecting and indicating anemergency or by providing information from which the processor 40determines that an emergency exists. The emergency condition may be anemergency condition for a least one of a person, an animal, a home, abuilding, an office, a factory, a venue, or a vehicle. The emergencycondition may comprise at least one of a fire, a medical condition, aburglary, or a flood.

At stage 154, the method 150 includes sending a first notification ofthe emergency condition to at least one mobile device. For example, theserver may send one or more notifications to one or more of the UEs31-35, such as the UEs 32-33, as discussed with respect to theoperations 114 and 117 of FIG. 4.

At stage 156, the method 150 includes determining information for the atleast one mobile device. For example, the server (e.g., the processor 40for the ESS 12) may determine information directly for one or more ofthe UEs 31-35, and/or by receiving information from the one or more UEs31-35, the location server 22, and/or one or more other devicesregarding the one or more UEs 31-35, for example as discussed withrespect to the operations 114-124 of FIG. 4. For example, theinformation determined may comprise location information, and thelocation information may comprise: a current location of the at leastone mobile device, a future location of the at least one mobile device,a past location of the at least one mobile device, a speed of the atleast one mobile device, a velocity of the at least one mobile device, adirection of movement of the at least one mobile device, or an expectedtime of the at least one mobile device at a known location, or acombination thereof. Also or alternatively, determining the informationmay comprise determining an absence of a response from the at least onemobile device for a threshold interval of time following sending thefirst notification

At stage 158, the method includes determining a requirement to notify anemergency service provider based, at least in part, on the informationfor the at least one mobile device. For example, the processor 40 of theESS 12 may determine whether to notify the ESP 20 as discussed withrespect to the operation 125 of FIG. 4. The requirement to notify theemergency service provider may be determined by the at least one mobiledevice or the user of the at least one mobile device, or a combinationthereof.

At stage 160, the method includes sending a second notification of theemergency condition to the emergency service provider in response to therequirement to notify the emergency service provider being determined.For example, the ESS 12 may send a request for an emergency relatedsession as discussed with respect to the operation 126 of FIG. 4. Theemergency service provider may be a public safety answering point(PSAP), and sending the second notification of the emergency conditionto the emergency service provider may comprise establishing an emergencycall with the PSAP.

The method 150 may include one or more further features. For example,the method 150 may further include receiving a response from a user ofthe at least one mobile device, e.g., as discussed with respect to theoperations 115-116 of FIG. 4. The information determined at stage 156may comprise the response. Also or alternatively, the response maycomprise the requirement to notify the emergency service provider (e.g.,which may be determined by the at least one mobile device or by the userof the at least one mobile device). Also or alternatively, the method150 may include determining the at least one mobile device, from amongmultiple mobile devices, based at least in part on the emergencycondition. Also or alternatively, the method 150 may include determiningthe emergency service provider based, at least in part, on at least oneof the emergency condition or the information for the at least onemobile device. Also or alternatively, the at least one mobile device,the emergency service provider, or the requirement to notify theemergency service provider, or a combination thereof, may be determinedbased, at least in part, on at least one of a time of day or a day ofweek.

With further reference to FIGS. 1-5, FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of amethod 170 of supporting emergency services by a user equipment (UE) andincludes the stages shown. The method 170 is, however, an example onlyand not limiting. The method 170 may be altered, e.g., by having stagesadded, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and/orhaving single stages split into multiple stages. The UE may correspondto any of the UEs 31-35 in FIG. 1—e.g., the UE 32 or the UE 33.

At stage 172, the method 170 includes receiving, by the UE from aserver, a first notification of an emergency condition. In an aspect,the server is an ESS (e.g., ESS 12). For example, the UE 32 may receivean emergency condition notification from the ESS 12 as discussed withrespect to the operation 114 of FIG. 4 and/or the UE 33 may receive anemergency condition notification from the ESS 12 as discussed withrespect to the operation 117 of FIG. 4.

At stage 174, the method 170 includes determining, by the UE,information regarding whether to notify an emergency service provider bythe server. For example, the UE 32 may determine information asdiscussed with respect to the operation 115 of FIG. 4 and/or the UE 33may determine information as discussed with respect to the operation 118of FIG. 4. The information may comprise location information for themobile device. The location information may comprise at least one of acurrent location of the mobile device, a future location of the mobiledevice, a past location of the mobile device, a speed of the mobiledevice, a velocity of the mobile device, a direction of movement of themobile device, or an expected time of arrival of the mobile device at aknown location. Also or alternatively, the information may comprise arequirement for notifying the emergency service provider.

At stage 176, the method 170 includes sending the information to theserver from the UE. For example, the UE 32 may send information in aresponse to the ESS 12 as discussed with respect to the operation 116 ofFIG. 4 and/or the UE 33 may send information in a response as discussedwith respect to the operation 121 of FIG. 4.

The method 170 may include one or more further features. For example,the method 170 may include: providing a second notification of theemergency condition, based on the first notification of the emergencycondition, to a user of the mobile device; and receiving a response fromthe user, wherein the information is based, at least in part, on theresponse. For example, the processor 70 may provide a notice regardingthe emergency condition to a user of the UE 32 through the userinterface 76, and the processor 70 may receive a response from the uservia the user interface 76, e.g., as discussed with respect to theoperation 115 of FIG. 4.

Other Considerations

As used herein, “or” as used in a list of items prefaced by “at leastone of” or prefaced by “one or more of” indicates a disjunctive listsuch that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or alist of “one or more of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BCor ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations with more than one feature(e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.).

As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function oroperation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function oroperation is based on the stated item or condition and may be based onone or more items and/or conditions in addition to the stated item orcondition.

A description that an entity produces an item, such as a message, doesnot require the entity to generate the item from scratch. For example,an emergency notification produced and sent by the ESS 12 to a UE,and/or a request for an emergency related session produced and sent bythe ESS 12 to the ESP 20, may be accessed from the memory 72.

Further, an indication that information is sent or transmitted, or astatement of sending or transmitting information, “to” an entity doesnot require completion of the communication. Such indications orstatements include situations where the information is conveyed from asending entity but does not reach an intended recipient of theinformation. The intended recipient, even if not actually receiving theinformation, may still be referred to as a receiving entity, e.g., areceiving execution environment. Further, an entity that is configuredto send or transmit information “to” an intended recipient is notrequired to be configured to complete the delivery of the information tothe intended recipient. For example, the entity may provide theinformation, with an indication of the intended recipient, to anotherentity that is capable of forwarding the information along with anindication of the intended recipient.

Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit ofthe disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature ofsoftware, functions described above can be implemented using softwareexecuted by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinationsof any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Further, more than one invention may be disclosed.

Substantial variations to described configurations may be made inaccordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardwaremight also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented inhardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.),or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read instructions.

The processes, systems, and devices discussed above are examples, and assuch are not limiting of the claims or the invention(s) as a whole.Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various proceduresor components as appropriate. For instance, in alternativeconfigurations, the processes may be performed in an order differentfrom that described, and that various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to certainconfigurations may be combined in various other configurations.Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined ina similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus, many of theelements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure orclaims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations provides a description for implementing describedtechniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangementof elements without departing from the spirit or scope of thedisclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, some operations may be performed inparallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations maybe rearranged. A process may have additional stages or functions notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform one or more of the described tasks.

Components, functional or otherwise, shown in the figures and/ordiscussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other arecommunicatively coupled. That is, they may be directly or indirectlyconnected to enable communication between them.

Having described several example configurations, various modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements maybe components of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention.Also, a number of operations may be undertaken before, during, or afterthe above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above descriptiondoes not bound the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of supporting emergency services at aserver, the method comprising: detecting an emergency condition;determining at least one mobile device from a plurality of mobile deviceto notify based on an emergency type associated with the emergencycondition and a location associated with each mobile device; sending,from the server, a notification of the emergency condition to the atleast one mobile device, wherein the notification indicates options forresponding to the emergency condition by the at least one mobile device;and receiving, from the at least one mobile device, a responseindicating whether a user will go to a location associated with theemergency condition, wherein the response is based on at least oneoption from the options provided in the notification.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the location associated with each mobile devicecomprising: a current location, a future location, a past location, aspeed, a direction of movement, or an expected time of arrival at aknown location, or any combination thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining an emergency service provider based onthe emergency condition; and wherein the notification includes theemergency service provider.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining at least one mobile device from a plurality of mobiledevices is further based on a time of day or a day of week.
 5. A servercomprising: a transceiver; a processor communicatively coupled to thetransceiver and configured to: detect an emergency condition; determineat least one mobile device from a plurality of mobile device to notifybased on an emergency type associated with the emergency condition and alocation associated with each mobile device; send, via the transceiver,a notification of the emergency condition to the at least one mobiledevice, wherein the notification indicates options for responding to theemergency condition by the at least one mobile device; and receive, viathe transceiver, from the at least one mobile device, a responseindicating whether a user will go to a location associated with theemergency condition, wherein the response is based on at least oneoption from the options provided in the notification.
 6. The server ofclaim 5, wherein the location associated with each mobile devicecomprising: a current location, a future location, a past location, aspeed, a direction of movement, or an expected time of arrival at aknown location, or any combination thereof.
 7. The server of claim 5,wherein the processor is further configured to: determine an emergencyservice provider based on the emergency condition; and wherein thenotification includes the emergency service provider.
 8. The server ofclaim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determine at least onemobile device from a plurality of mobile devices is further based on atime of day or a day of week.
 9. A server comprising: means fordetecting an emergency condition; means for determining at least onemobile device from a plurality of mobile device to notify based on anemergency type associated with the emergency condition and a locationassociated with each mobile device; means for sending a notification ofthe emergency condition to the at least one mobile device, wherein thenotification indicates options for responding to the emergency conditionby the at least one mobile device; and means for receiving, from the atleast one mobile device, a response indicating whether a user will go toa location associated with the emergency condition, wherein the responseis based on at least one option from the options provided in thenotification.
 10. The server of claim 9, wherein the location associatedwith each mobile device comprising: a current location, a futurelocation, a past location, a speed, a direction of movement, or anexpected time of arrival at a known location, or any combinationthereof.
 11. The server of claim 9, further comprising means fordetermining an emergency service provider based on the emergencycondition; and wherein the notification includes the emergency serviceprovider.
 12. The server of claim 9, the means for determining the atleast one mobile device from the plurality of mobile device is furtherbased on a time of day or a day of week.